NFF bans Super Eagles coach Salisu Yusuf from all football-related activities for a year for collecting bribe

NIGERIAN Football Federation (NFF) chiefs have banned Super Eagles coach Salisu Yusuf from all football-related activities for one year and ordered him to pay a fine of $5,000 within three months after finding him guilty of receiving bribes.

In July, a video was released in which Mr Yusuf was caught on tape receiving N360,000 ($1,000) from undercover reporters posing as agents trying to influence him to select players. Mr Yusuf, 56, coaches Nigeria's home-based team and is an assistant to Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr with a specific brief to uncover local talent.

After the matter became public, the NFF's disciplinary committee was told to investigate the matter and it recommended that Mr Yusuf be dismissed. Now, the NFF's Ethics and Fair Play Committee chaired by former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman Nuhu Ribadu, has recommended that he be banned for a year.

In the video, Mr Yusuf was trapped by an undercover sting by Ghanaian journalists assuring them that he will give two players Osas Okoro and Rabiu Ali, game time. Mr Yusuf was also promised 15% of the transfer fees of the players when they secure deals away from their Nigerian clubs Enugu Rangers and Kano Pillars.

Mr Yusuf maintains his innocence arguing that the payment was a gift and insists the players were already part of his team for the 2018 Championship of African Nations tournament. In a letter to the BBC Mr Yusuf confirmed meeting with two persons who introduced themselves as football agents and that they had a discussion about players for Chan but denied any wrongdoing despite accepting $750 from them.